Concern was growing that the usual arrival of the bar-tailed godwit to our local estuaries had somehow been disrupted. Eleven had been counted at the beginning of the month but this them reduced to a second sighting of just four a few days later. Then no further sightings at their usual high tide roost sites.
However, on Saturday 39 were recorded in Ngataringa Bay and then this morning I counted 68. It was a very windy and fairly cool count this morning and that's how the weather has been this month, I suspect that this is the reason for the rather inconsistent early arrivals from their flight nearly 12000 km flight from Alaska to spend the summer with us before returning to Alaska to breed via China next March.
So too are a pair of mallard ducks back visiting our pond this morning. I guess they too were seeking shelter from the strong winds across the nearby estuary.
Photos to follow...................